


Day 228

by Josh_the_Bard



Series: A Year in Kirkwall [228]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:01:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25944778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Josh_the_Bard/pseuds/Josh_the_Bard
Series: A Year in Kirkwall [228]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589257
Kudos: 1





	Day 228

When he woke, Harach was surprised, as he had been for the past few mornings, to be free. He had been a slave since he was thirteen and his parents sold him to a Magister in exchange for healing his older sister. They had also probably earned enough for a decent dowry, far be it for his father to be shorted on a business deal. While he had come to resent his parents he hopped his sister was doing well.

Now he was nearly thirty and had no idea what he was going to do with the rest of his life. Until now, he had expected to work as Magister Spurius’ gofer until he was too old to be of use and was sacrificed in a blood ritual. He had considered escaping before, but he had seen the consequences of too many failed attempts for that. He had never considered that freedom might come from an outside source, especially not from benevolent elves.

Merrill, one of those very elves, had come by to where he was being kept to join the escapes for breakfast. There were five of them living together in an empty home. They hadn't gone into specifics but Harach got the impression that the Alianage had a lot of recently emptied houses. The other escapees were being set up with jobs in the area but Harach wasn’t sure where that left him. He wasn’t an elf and he didn’t know if he would be allowed to stay here, but he also didn’t know how he would manage away from his fiends.

Noll was busy arranging jobs for everyone as well as collecting donations to keep them fed while they learned how to live in Kirkwall. Merrill was an adorable woman; clearly uncomfortable around so many strangers but trying her best anyway. Harach and the others humored her, she was, after all, responsible for their freedom. It took her most of the meal to work herself up to asking the question she ha clearly come to ask.

“Harach, do you want to stay in the Alienage?”

“I wasn’t sure that was an option,” he replied. “I haven’t seen any other humans here.”

“Well, normally the humans keep to themselves,” Merrill said. “But that’s their choice. As far as Noll and I are concerned, being a slave to a Magister makes you one of us more than the shape of your ears. There are plenty of people around here who need help. Most can't pay more than some food and a place to sleep but-”

“That will be enough for me,” Harach said.

“But Noll has gathered a group who, between the lot of them, can pay you a fair wage. At least Noll says it’s a fair wage, we never got wages in my clan, so I don’t suppose I would know a decent one from a pile of dirt. But there are lots of folks who were expecting to have children to help them in their age but don’t. Mostly they just need you to come ‘round once a day to help tidy their homes and carry things from the market and things like that.”

“The same things I was going before,” Harach mused.

“But now you’ll be free,” Merrill said.

“But now I’ll be free,” Harach agreed.


End file.
